Phoenix's Zombie Walk Cancels Its 2018 Edition

Phoenix's Zombie Walk has been killed off again – and it’s going to take a community effort to bring it back from the dead.

Organizers of the annual Halloween event have canceled the walk’s 2018 edition, originally set to take place in late October in downtown Phoenix, because of poor attendance and other factors. The Arizona Hemophilia Society, which has run the event since 2016, announced the cancellation of this year’s zombie walk on Thursday via Facebook. The statement also mentioned a possibility of bringing the event back to life in 2019, however, but only with enough community support.

“After looking at last year’s event, we are sad to announce that we must bury the Zombie Walk for 2018. This was a very difficult decision, but due to low attendance, and increasing costs we must take the time to reevaluate for 2019,” the statement said. “We know this ghastly news is hard to take in, but we look forward to finding collaborative solutions so that we can bring the event back in the future better than ever.”

This isn’t the first time the zombie walk has been laid to rest in its nine-year history. The event was launched in 2009 by local nonprofit community development organization Downtown Phoenix Inc. but was canceled in 2016 because of the costs involved. A few months later, Arizona Hemophilia Society took over the walk, only to have it succumb to one of the issues that plagued its original organizers.

At one time, the zombie walk boasted an attendance of more than 20,000 people. However, an estimated 4,000 people reportedly attended last year’s event. Zombie walk fans who might have some ideas about how to revive the event are encouraged to reach out to the Arizona Hemophilia Association via its Facebook page or by emailing [email protected].

“Just like the undead creatures the Zombie Walk celebrates, it could rise again next year, and we encourage the community to reach out to us about ways to wake the dead again in 2019,” the organization said.

In the meantime, if you need something zombie-related to look forward to (other than Halloween, of course) The Walking Dead-focused Walker Stalker touring convention announced earlier this week that it will be coming to Phoenix on January 25 and 26. Better start practicing your stumbling and staggering.